Two years ago, the Archbishop Williams High football team was in bad shape.

The Bishops struggled to find a consistent quarterback, the rushing attack had difficulty finding holes and not a single receiver cracked 200 yards. No surprise that Williams finished 1-9.

Following vast improvements in 2012 – a 5-4 record and a fourth-place finish in the Catholic Central League (Large-School Division) – expectations are once again high for the squad.

It’s funny how much one season – the Bishops’ first winning one since 2005 – can change the landscape.

“The reaction from the community has been great,” coach Bill Kinsherf said. “We’ve kind of fed off the excitement and energy. But when you win a couple games, there’s always a hunger for more. So everyone expects a lot more from us this year.”

As long as the Bishops have senior Kylan Philbert-Richardson in their backfield, that shouldn’t be a problem.

In nine games last year the Randolph resident churned out 1,746 yards and 17 touchdowns on 221 carries. That’s an insane average of 194 yards and nearly two touchdowns a game.

“What (Philbert-Richardson) did last year, you just can’t get much better than that,” Kinsherf said of the All-Scholastic pick, who rushed for 700-plus yards as a sophomore in 2011 despite missing four games due to injury. “He’s been in here every day in the summer, just training and working with the other guys. He’s getting bigger and stronger, but he’s trying to show the team he’s just like them. That he’s not a superstar.”

“Having the group of guys I have around me was huge,” Philbert-Richardson said. “Everyone was mentally and physically ready to come into the season and just work hard. It just gave me better motivation to do what I had to do (in 2012).”

With the help of a strong rushing attack, Archbishop Williams looks to continue its improvement.

“On the positive side, our guys are in a lot better shape than I thought they’d be,” Kinsherf said of his early impressions. “On the negative side, it’s always been a numbers game. We have around 50 kids out here right now. But we’d like to see the numbers grow into the 60s and 70s.”

But that’s out of Kinsherf’s hands. All he can do now is just to keep pushing his players to be ready for the Sept. 13 opener against Somerset. Winning will take care of everything else.

“This team knows first-hand what the result of hard work and dedication is,” Kinsherf said. “When we went 1-9, a lot of these seniors were sophomores. They know what it takes.”

But Philbert-Richardson believes the Bishops already have it.

“I just want to see us go to the playoffs,” he said. “I know we can do it. Everyone’s been working hard all summer. We just need to get in our groove and we’ll be all right.”